Transcript chapter15
Chapter 15: Media Effects and Cultural Approaches to Research Some guiding questions What are different ways to study the effects that media messages have on audience (consumers)? How have these approaches changed over the years? What are the differences between mediaeffects research and cultural approaches? What are the strengths and limitations of each? Food for thought: To what degree do the media we consume (TV, movies, music) affect our values and our behavior? THREE ASPECTS OF MASS MEDIA INDUSTRY (Producers and Marketers) TEXT (Product) AUDIENCE (Consumers) MEDIA and AUDIENCES: Different Questions for Different Approaches What do the media do to people? (MEDIA EFFECTS) What do people do with media texts? (CULTURAL STUDIES) MEDIA EFFECTS: What does a media text do to people? Media text = a unit of media (a single article, book, program, film, videotape, etc.) People = the audience History of effects research Since the early 1900’s, elite concern about effects of media on the morals of children and the lower classes After WWI, growing concern about use of propaganda to change public opinion Marketing research into consumer buying and viewing habits Early Media Research 19th century models of media analysis based upon moral and political arguments 1920: Walter Lippman advocated applied media research based on psychology and scientific models. SCIENTIFIC METHOD Identify the research problem Review existing research and theories Develop working hypotheses and theories Determine an appropriate research design Collect data Analyze results Interpret implications of the study The SCIENTIFIC METHOD values: Objectivity Reliability Validity Media research trends 1930-1960 Propaganda analysis Public opinion research Social psychology studies Marketing research MEDIA EFFECTS RESEARCH attempts to understand, explain, and predict the impact of mass media on individuals and society PRIVATE RESEARCH Conducted for a business, corporation or political group Usually applied research (addresses real-life problem) Often addresses a consumer problem Seldom shared, though selected results released to news media PUBLIC RESEARCH Occurs in academic or government settings Often more theoretical than applied (that is, tries to clarify or explain media effects) Usually shared with the public and other researchers EARLY MODELS for understanding media effects: Hypodermic Needle Model (direct effects) Minimal Effects Model (selective exposure and retention) Uses and Gratifications Model (variations in how people use media to satisfy emotional and intellectual needs) Direct effects theories View relationship between media texts and consumers as unmediated Sees individuals as passive and in isolation Perceives media like a bullet or hypodermic needle Minimal Effects theories Media alone do not cause people to change beliefs and behaviors. Selective exposure and selective retention of media messages Mass media often just reinforce existing attitudes. Social influence of opinion leaders and peers Uses and Gratifications model Views media consumers as active rather than passive Looks at how media satisfy emotional or intellectual needs ASKS: Why and how do we use the media? EXPLAINING MEDIA EFFECTS Agenda-setting: news media tells us what is important Cultivation effect: heavy TV viewing shapes our reality CULTURAL STUDIES APPROACHES to MEDIA RESEARCH CULTURAL STUDIES APPROACHES Look at media as part of our daily life, not in a laboratory Go beyond a psychological, individual approach -- see individuals as members of social and cultural groups that influence us CULTURAL STUDIES Adds qualitative, interpretive approach to the scientific approach of media effects research Examines how and why people USE media, not just what media DO to people ASKS: What meanings do people make of their media experiences? OTHER RELATED APPROACHES ANALYSIS OF MEDIA INDUSTRIES Economic analysis: how capital income/expenditures influence the organization and functioning of media industries Industry structure: who does what, how industries are organized, professional roles ANALYSIS OF MEDIA INDUSTRIES Media policy analysis: evaluation of government regulation, the allocation of resources and their impact on media and society Media programming strategies and decisions ANALYSIS OF TEXTS CONTENT ANALYSIS (quantitative; scientific; statistical) often associated with MEDIA EFFECTS approach MEDIA CRITICISM (interpretive; literary; looking for meanings) associated with CULTURAL APPROACH MEDIA CRITICISM analyzes Style and aesthetics (media as art form) Narrative or structural analysis Issues of representation (gender, social roles, stereotypes, etc.) What are some of the strengths and limitations of Media effects research? Cultural research? Other approaches?